GamesIndustry.biz (registration required) has word that Activision is expected to follow its earnings announcement today with the announcement of plans to close or restructure studios and scale back or cancel franchises, and refocus its business on StarCraft and World of Warcraft as its two main franchises. Eurogamer has word that these changes may already be surfacing with word from "sources" that United Front's open world game True Crime and the Guitar Hero series have been cancelled, and that DJ Hero developer Freestyle Games and Guitar Hero developer Vicarious Visions have been hit with layoffs. As BioWare's Manveer Heir tweeted: "Ugh sorry to hear about the Vicarious Visions layoffs today after Guitar Hero canceled. Shitty. Sounds like Freestyle (DJ Hero) got hit too." Update:Kotaku has a confirmation from Activision: "due to continued declines in the music genre, the company will disband Activision Publishing's Guitar Hero business unit and discontinue development on its Guitar Hero game for 2011. The company also will stop development on True Crime: Hong Kong. These decisions are based on the desire to focus on the greatest opportunities that the company currently has to create the world's best interactive entertainment experiences"

So comforting to know as a developer that when times are good, and your game's a hit, you can expect the publisher to screw you for royalties and pidgenhole you into working on a franchise in perpituity. When times are bad, and the franchise is starting to wane, you can expect them to shit-can you.